Reviewing small business in Cheshire and Staffordshire. We do accept guest contributions, but this is more for a small audience. We love to hear comments/thoughts though so please do get in touch with us!

Categories

Meta

Tag: Springtide

We just had our local church website re-done by a local business based in Congleton, Cheshire. The company was Springtide Associates, and they did a fantastic job! (You can see the new site here, looks really stylish, much better than the usual church sites!)

We spoke to Pete Goodwin (owner of Springtide) and asked him about how he did it. He explained it was all based on a simple WordPress system, and said he’d be happy to do a quick write-up of why he thinks WordPress is the best option! So here goes…

WordPress web design is a great option for those seeking to start a brand new business or even those who just want to improve their old and outdated website, However the world of web design can be a minefield with plenty of holes to fall into, so let’s take a look at the top mistakes you can make when designing your website.

Loud Proud Graphics
Flashing images and twinkly lights NEVER work on websites, its a fact…whilst you may think there’s something kitsch about that awesome flashing gimmick in reality it is simply screaming scammer and amateur. Not only does it look as far from professional as you can get but it also draws attention away from the content AKA the important bit, you know, where you explain your services….

Taking a Lifetime to Load
There’s one small fact to learn about internet users; they have the patience of a goldfish! That means if your homepage takes more than four seconds to load they are gonna press the back button and get the hell outta there. Be sure your page loads quickly to pull the reader in and keep them there. WordPress usually offers decent load times, although you can always test yourself for free with online tools like Pingdom.

Mega White Space
The white space on a page is a delicate balance, too much and people will be wondering why you can’t fill in the blanks, too little and people will be wondering what the heck is going on. Get the balance right by giving potential customers the correct amount of information without overwhelming or underwhelming. Consider which content is necessary and get to the point in a concise manner. Most WordPress themes allow you to preview how they look, so you can see if they get the balance right!

Hard to Read Text
Having black text on a dark background or text over images will make the content hard to read. Keep your text simple and a font size that doesn’t smack you in the face or cause you to squint your eyes. Also, avoid large blocks of text that look to meaty. Bite-sized chunks of text are what you should aim for. When piecing together your WordPress web design it should look easy on the eye. People love to scan when it comes to the internet if they wanted a meal they would pick up War and Peace instead. At Springtide, our web design Cheshire service will hep you get the text and content balance just right.

The Website Doesn’t Provide a Solution
So you have spent an entire page telling people how great your company is without anything to back it up. When people click on your web page no doubt they are looking for a solution to their problem whether it be a product or a solution. Don’t go overboard with the bragging instead stick to the point and let your clients know what you can do to help.

Springtide have produced a great, helpful video to explain how to get the right company for your web design project:

Opting for PDF
Users hate coming across PDF with a vengeance, why? Because it takes an age to load, you can’t press the back button and it breaks the flow. Avoid using PDF as its bad for online reading, put all your content in clean tidy drawers known as tabs! The same can be said for slideshows, pictures take a while to load and whilst slide shows can look good chances are someone won’t sit and wait for fifty pictures to slide past their screen.

Going Overboard with Technology
We all know technology is wonderful, but we also know that when we land on a home page we don’t want to be bombarded with images, boxes, videos and background music. This is where technology can be your enemy so even if you are proud that you can use it, keep it on the down low when it comes to your website.